With so many potential uses for virtual reality from entertainment, education, retail, medical, engineering and more; one major potential use is in real estate. Many luxury properties have been using rotating 360 degree camera walkthroughs for the past several years, but why is VR (virtual reality) going to be different? The simple answer is VR lets you go there.

Companies looking to buy or lease are finding it increasingly easy to take a peek at potential locations from their tablet or computer and soon many will have the ability to put on their phone and take a walk inside. With Google Cardboard, Samsung Gear VR, HTC Vive, Facebook owned Oculus and many other providers just coming on to the market in the last six months the adoption rate projections are impressive.

Goldman Sachs Research predicts that virtual and augmented reality will become an $80 billion market by 2025. $2.6 billion of that market will be targeted for real estate, for comparison the desktop PC market is roughly this size today. With most phones, within one year, being able to provide a low end virtual reality experience it is easy to see why adoption could be so fast when almost the entire population already will own the basic hardware; they just need to strap it to their face.

One of the biggest obstacles for widespread use in real estate remains the cost, which may limit the use to larger projects such as commercial real estate and high-end home sales. Designing a detailed VR experience for a proposed property can start in the tens of thousands of dollars. Initially we see the adoption in capturing existing properties as well as selling high end condo projects to be built.

While detailed specs, floor plans and photos have been the norm in online listings for years. Our local commercial brokerage has recently started to capture feature properties using a 3D camera which can be viewed by virtual reality devices or on your phone, tablet or computer. We see it as a way to engage potential customers to view a space easily and connect with us to view more. You can be at your computer in your office and be able to clearly see how big the boardroom is, what the finishes look like, how much natural light there is or what the view out your window might be. While we don’t think this will replace the need to have a physical tour, we want to provide new ways to engage tenants or buyers. Possibly someday soon we will meet you there, virtually.

EDMONTON, ALBERTA – February 24, 2016: NAI Global, the world’s largest, most powerful network of owner-operated commercial real estate firms, earned the fourth spot in the 2016 Lipsey Survey of Top 25 Commercial Real Estate Brands. The survey was conducted among 100,000 commercial real estate professionals using a combination of ballot voting, phone interviews and focus groups to evaluate innovation, responsiveness and quality of service. NAI Global is the only commercial real estate network of independently owned and operated firms represented among the top five. NAI Commercial is based in Edmonton, Alberta is a Member of NAI Global, serving Greater Edmonton and surrounding areas.

“We are proud that the power of NAI continues to be recognized throughout the industry, with NAI being the only network of owner-operated brokerages that ranks among its corporately owned or publicly traded competitors. Congrats to our members and the other ranking brands,” said Chad Snow, Broker/President of NAI Commercial.

The survey is conducted by The Lipsey Company, a leading training and consulting firm specializing in the commercial real estate industry. The 2016 survey results can be found here.

About NAI Commercial

NAI Commercial is a market-leading, full service commercial real estate brokerage providing exceptional service and expertise in Edmonton since 1966. We are ideal partner given our depth of local market knowledge and unmatched access to a world of opportunity through the NAI Global.

NAI Global is the single largest, most powerful global network of owner-operated commercial real estate brokerage firms. NAI Global provides a full range of corporate real estate services, including brokerage and leasing, property and facilities management, real estate investment and capital market services, due diligence, global supply chain and logistics consulting and related advisory services. NAI Global Member firms, leaders in their local markets, are actively managed to work in unison and provide clients with exceptional solutions to their commercial real estate needs. Founded in 1978, today NAI Global has more than 375 offices strategically located throughout North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia Pacific, with over 6,700 local market professionals, managing over 380 million square feet of property. Supported by the central resources of the NAI Global network, Member firms deliver market-leading services locally and combine their in-market strengths to form a powerful bond of insights and execution for clients with multi-market challenges

NAI Global was acquired in 2012 by C-III Capital Partners, a leading commercial real estate services company engaged in a broad range of activities, including primary and special loan servicing, loan origination, fund management, CDO management, principal investment, online capital markets, title services and multifamily property management. C-III’s principal place of business is located in Irving, TX, with additional offices in New York, NY, Greenville, SC and Nashville, TN.

NAI Global, the world’s largest, most powerful network of owner-operated commercial real estate firms, earned the top 5 spot in the 2014 Annual Lipsey Survey of Commercial Real Estate Brands. When conducting the interviews to identify the top global brands: Innovation, Responsiveness and Quality of Service was evaluated. See the results here.

Since last November our eyes and ears have been continually drawn to headlines with the latest predictions of how much lower oil will go and how much longer until increases return. Was the sudden drop a geo-political move? Will good times return by summer? How about Q3? As born and raised residents of oil country we had hoped someone here on the ground would surely know more than a stock analyst from afar. Sometimes we are too close and the realities of a worldwide commodity can’t be understood without looking at it from a worldwide perspective. After months of reviewing varying opinions, stock predictions and statistics we felt we should cover what is known from a larger perspective that we can all understand. The future of oil and its stability has direct effects on the real estate industry which we expect to see in various forms over the coming 18 months. So while predictions provide short term comfort, understanding the new landscape is the best medicine for our economy…

NAI Commercial Edmonton and NAI Advent Calgary is proud to announce the $4,000,000 sale completion of the Big Sky Industrial Centre located in Brooks, Alberta. The 69,300 sq. ft. (+/-) multi-bay industrial property is occupied by 15 tenants with over half of them being national/international companies. The sale was represented by Jim Barkwell of NAI Commercial Edmonton and Dan Goldstrom of NAI Advent Calgary.

Welcome NAI Paris and NAI Kyrios!​NAI Global President Jay Olshonsky is excited to announce the addition of two new international Member firms, NAI Paris and NAI Kyrios, which will serve two of the largest metropolitan areas in France.

Jay Olshonsky noted, “France continues to drive Europe’s strong commercial real estate performance, with the Paris and Lyons markets attracting the most national and international investors. We are proud to strengthen the NAI Global footprint in these critical markets and provide our Members and their clients access to the world’s fourth largest location for Fortune 500 companies.”

NAI Commercial Edmonton is pleased to present to you its Fall 2013 Market Insights Report.

“Edmonton continues to have one of the strongest economies in Canada. How do we know that? The government issued a total of $1.2 billion in non-residential building permits through the end of June 2013 and there has been an increase of $372 million in non-residential building permits during the first six months of 2013 alone..”